CONVEYER APPARATUS FOR PELLET-SHAPED ARTICLES
Methods and apparatuses for identifying and averting exposed pellet-shaped article defects, deviations, and inclusions are disclosed. A vision system may be capable of identifying flaws/inclusions/defects/deviations affecting the exterior and/or interior of pellet-shaped articles via Ultra-Violet Light to instigate long-wave visible and Infra-red fluorescence. The UV Light and section of the visible spectrum not encompassing the instigated fluorescence may be removed with an optical filter so a camera can capture an image of discrete flaws/inclusions/defects/deviations. The vision system may send decision-signals to a mechanism to manipulate individual pellet-shaped articles. For example, a scam between halves of softgels may be rotated by an actuator having contact point(s) to hold a portion of the softgel stationary while a conveyer moves beneath causing rotation of the seam. This process may be performed prior to laser etching, printing, and/or drilling of pellet-shaped articles to reduce the number of pellet-shaped articles marked/printed/drilled on undesired surfaces.
1 . An apparatus for processing pellet-shaped articles, each of the pellet-shaped articles having a seam around its perimeter, the apparatus comprising:
a conveyer comprising a plurality of carrier bars, each of the carrier bars having a plurality of pockets arranged in a row that is oriented perpendicularly to a direction of travel of the carrier bars along a conveyer path, each of the pockets being configured to receive one of the pellet-shaped articles;
an inspection unit configured to acquire an image of each of the pellet-shaped articles;
a plurality of article contacting devices positioned downstream of the inspection unit along the conveyer path and arranged in a row that is oriented perpendicularly to the direction of travel of the carrier bars, a number of article contacting devices being equal to a number of pockets in each of the carrier bars, and each of the article contacting devices being configured to contact a corresponding one of the pellet-shaped articles passing thereby along the conveyer path while being held in a corresponding pocket;
a processing unit positioned downstream of the plurality of article contacting devices and configured to mark each of the pellet-shaped articles with indicia; and
a controller configured to:
receive the image of each of the pellet-shaped articles acquired by the inspection unit;
determine, based on the image, whether the seam of each of the pellet-shaped articles is positioned inside or outside of a predetermined boundary; and
responsive to the determination, instruct the article contacting device whether to manipulate the pellet-shaped article.
2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to instruct the article contacting device corresponding to the pocket holding the pellet-shaped article having the seam positioned inside of the predetermined boundary to contact that pellet-shaped article while passing that article contacting device, if the seam of any one of the pellet-shaped articles is determined to be positioned inside of the predetermined boundary.
3 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to allow the pellet-shaped article having the seam positioned outside of the predetermined boundary to pass the corresponding article contacting device without contact, if the seam of any one of the pellet-shaped articles is determined to be positioned outside of the predetermined boundary.
4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the article contacting devices comprises an actuator and a finger connected to the actuator.
5 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the finger of each of the article contacting devices comprises a contacting portion configured to contact each of the pellet-shaped articles.
6 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the contacting portion comprises a flexible material.
7 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the flexible material is rubber.
8 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the contacting portion is a rubber O-ring.
9 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the finger has an elongate shape, a first end of the finger being connected to the actuator and the contacting portion being positioned on a second end of the finger.
10 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the actuator is configured to move the finger towards and away from the conveyer along a longitudinal axis of the finger.
11 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the actuator is a solenoid.
12 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the actuator is pneumatically operated.
13 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein each of the article contacting devices comprises a spring to attenuate motion of the finger when the contacting portion contacts a corresponding pellet-shaped article.
14 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the article contacting devices is configured to contact, when instructed by the controller, a corresponding pellet-shaped article for a duration sufficient to rotate the pellet-shaped article approximately 90° within the corresponding pocket.
15 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the pockets is shaped and dimensioned to allow the pellet-shaped article held therein to rotate when contacted by the corresponding article contacting device.
16 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the carrier bars is coated, at least inside each of the pockets, with a substance to reduce friction with the corresponding pellet-shaped article.
17 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein at least the pockets of each of the carrier bars is formed from a material that reduces friction with the corresponding pellet-shaped article.
18 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processing unit comprises at least one of a laser and a printer.
19 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the inspection unit comprises a camera or a near-infrared (NIR) sensor.
20 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
an additional inspection unit positioned downstream of the processing unit and configured to acquire an additional image of each of the pellet-shaped articles after processing; and
an ejection system configured to direct each of the pellet-shaped articles into an accept bin or a reject bin.
21 . The apparatus of claim 20 , wherein the controller is configured to:
receive the additional image of each of the pellet-shaped articles acquired by the additional inspection unit;
determine, based on the image, whether the seam and the indicia of each of the pellet-shaped articles is inside or outside of the predetermined boundary;
if the seam and the indicia of any one of the pellet-shaped articles are positioned inside of the predetermined boundary, then instruct the ejection system to direct the corresponding pellet-shaped article into the reject bin; and
if the seam of any one of the pellet-shaped articles is positioned outside of the predetermined boundary and the indicia of any one of the pellet-shaped articles is positioned inside of the predetermined boundary, then instruct the ejection system to direct the corresponding pellet-shaped article into the accept bin.
22 . A system for inspecting and processing pellet-shaped articles, the system comprising:
a conveyer including a plurality of carrier bars configured to transport pellet-shaped articles along a conveyer path, each of the carrier bars having one or more pockets, and each of the pockets being shaped and dimensioned to receive one pellet-shaped article;
one or more inspection apparatuses, the conveyer being configured to transport the pellet-shaped articles past the inspection apparatus, the inspection apparatus including:
a light source configured to illuminate the pellet-shaped articles with light while passing the inspection apparatus;
a camera configured to capture an image of each of the pellet-shaped articles while passing the inspection apparatus; and
a filter configured to restrict transmission of light having a wavelength approximately equal to the light from the light source, the filter being positioned between the pellet-shaped articles passing through the inspection apparatus and the camera such that light having a wavelength approximately equal to the light from the light source is prevented from reaching the camera;
one or more processing apparatuses configured to perform one or more processing operations on the pellet-shaped articles; and
a controller configured to receive images of the pellet-shaped articles captured by the camera and configured to instruct the one or more processing apparatuses to perform the one or more processing operations.
23 . The system of claim 22 , wherein light from the light source is UV light.
24 . The system of claim 22 , wherein light from the light source has a wavelength centered at a wavelength in the range of approximately 300 nm to approximately 800 nm.
25 . The system of claim 22 , wherein light from the light source has a wavelength centered at approximately 365 nm.
26 . The system of claim 22 , wherein the filter is configured to transmit only visible light.
27 . The system of claim 22 , wherein the filter is configured to transmit only light having a wavelength within a portion of the visible light spectrum.
28 . The system of claim 22 , wherein the filter is an absorption filter.
29 . The system of claim 22 , wherein the controller is configured to detect one or more characteristics of each of the pellet-shaped articles from each image received from the camera.
30 . The system of claim 29 , wherein the pellet-shaped articles are softgel capsules and the characteristic is a seam each of the softgel capsules.
31 . The system of claim 22 , wherein a hole extends from each pocket through each of the carrier bars.
32 . The system of claim 22 , wherein each of the carrier bars includes a number of holes equal to a number of pockets.
33 . The system of claim 31 , wherein the hole extends from a bottom surface of pocket.
34 . The system of claim 22 , further comprising a vacuum generator pneumatically connected to a conveyer base to draw a vacuum through each hole in the carrier bars passing over the conveyer base.
35 . The system of claim 31 , wherein the carrier bars comprise a base constructed from a first material and a pocket insert constructed from a second material that is different from the first material.
36 . The system of claim 22 , wherein the pockets are formed in the pocket insert.
37 . The system of claim 35 , wherein the first material is more rigid than the second material.
38 . The system of claim 35 , wherein the first material is metal and the second material is plastic.
39 . The system of claim 38 , wherein the metal is aluminum.
40 . The system of claim 35 , wherein the hole extends through the first material and the second material.
41 . The system of claim 35 , wherein the pocket insert is removable from the base.
42 . The system of claim 22 , comprising:
a first inspection apparatus and a second inspection apparatus; and
a first processing apparatus positioned downstream of the first inspection apparatus and upstream of the second inspection apparatus relative to the conveyer path and a second processing apparatus downstream of the second inspection apparatus relative to the conveyer path.
43 . The system of claim 22 , wherein the processing apparatus comprises an article contacting device positioned above each row of pockets of the carrier bars, the article contacting device being configured to contact individual pellet-shaped articles in response to instructions from the controller to rotate individual pellet-shaped articles within respective pockets.
44 . The system of claim 22 , wherein each article contacting device comprises an actuator, a finger configured to driven by the actuator, and a contacting portion movably connected to the finger, the contacting portion configured to contact individual pellet-shaped articles in corresponding pockets.
45 . The system of claim 44 , wherein the contacting portion comprises a base having one or more wheels immovably fixed thereto and an O-ring positioned around each wheel to contact pellet-shaped articles.
46 . The system of claim 45 , wherein the article contacting device comprises a pivot pin that pivotably connects the finger to the base of the contacting portion and a spring positioned between the finger and the base to bias the contacting portion.
47 . The system of claim 22 , further comprising a processing unit configured to apply a mark to each of the pellet-shaped articles.